'Did you intend your bride to die' Coroner stuns groom at inquest with challenge over new wife's heroin overdose on honeymoon Former journalist Kristy Cadman-Jones killed by overdose of pure heroinHearing heard husband filled in life insurance claim form putting cause of death as 'heart and cardiovascular failure'Damian, 31, denies embalming his wife less than 48 hours after her death in order to prevent toxicology tests being carried outPair were on honeymoon in a dream four-week trip when 27-year-old died

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UPDATED:

10:42 GMT, 7 December 2012

A coroner stunned an inquest into a honeymooner’s death by asking her husband if he had been involved.

Kristy Cadman-Jones, 27, died of a drugs overdose at a luxury hotel in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, towards the end of a month-long tour of the Far East with Damian, 31.

At the time of her death in January it was suggested that she had suffered a heart attack.

Kristy Cadman-Jones died while on a romantic month-long honeymoon in Asia with her new husband Damian

The coroner quizzed Damian Cadman-Jones, pictured yesterday, at the Leicester inquest into the death of his wife

However, the inquest heard yesterday that she was killed by a huge amount of pure heroin.

Mr Cadman-Jones, a solicitor, claimed the couple had been offered what
they thought was cocaine by two travellers they met in a bar that night.
He ‘suspected’ that his wife, a recruitment agency branch manager, took
some.

The inquest was also told that within hours of the bride’s death someone
had attempted to make a claim on her life insurance policy.

In extraordinary scenes, coroner Donald Coutts-Wood quizzed Mr
Cadman-Jones about the circumstances surrounding her death and pointed
out inconsistencies in his statements.

He asked: ‘Were you in any way involved with others in any intention to end your wife’s life’

Mr Cadman-Jones denied this – and said he did not know who contacted
Zurich, the insurance company with whom he and his wife held life
insurance policies.

Mr Coutts-Wood also asked Mr Cadman-Jones why he was ‘so desperate’ to
have his wife’s body embalmed within 48 hours, explaining that the
process could hamper toxicology tests.

Mr Cadman-Jones told the hearing
at Leicester Town Hall – where the couple were married – that he made
the decision so his wife could ‘say goodbye to her mother’, who did not
fly out to Cambodia.

The inquest heard that when he filled in a claim form relating to his
wife’s life insurance policy later in the year, he put the cause of
death as ‘heart and cardiovascular failure’ – despite the fact he had
received a report from the post-mortem examination outlining the cause
of death as morphine and codeine toxicity as a result of taking heroin.

Mr Cadman-Jones said he had completed the form several months earlier
and had not checked it before sending it off.

The inquest also heard how Mr Cadman-Jones’s first statement to the
authorities did not mention drugs, but a later one described how a pair
of ‘experienced travellers’ had offered him and his wife cocaine on the
night of her death.

Mr Cadman-Jones said he did not see his wife taking drugs that night,
but admitted she took them ‘once in a blue moon’.

A coroner recorded an open verdict into the death of the recruitment consultant, who died in her sleep

Mr Cadman-Jones first realised there was something wrong with his wife when he woke a few hours later to find her unresponsive

Mr Cadman-Jones tried waking his wife by shaking and shouting her, throwing water in her face, before beginning CPR and calling for an ambulance

Kristy Cadman-Jones on her wedding day with friends. She was married six months before taking her honeymoon

Kristy, second from left, and Damien Cadman-Jones, far right. The couple married at Leicester Town Hall

He declined to answer
when asked if he had himself used drugs in the past.

Recording an open verdict, Mr Coutts-Wood said he did not find Mr
Cadman-Jones’ contradictory evidence ‘credible’, but explained that he
did not have the evidence to record a verdict of unlawful killing.

Leicestershire Police said: ‘There is no information to support a homicide inquiry at this time.’

Pictured on her wedding day: Mr Cadman-Jones said he did not see his wife taking drugs that night, but admitted she took them 'once in a blue moon'

Tragic: The pair pictured together on holiday. The hearing was told that within hours of the bride's death, someone had contacted her insurance company to make a claim on a life policy she had taken out

27-year-old Kristy Cadman-Jones had been on a four week tour of South-East Asia

Kristy died in her sleep at a luxury hotel in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, pictured